Links
von Peter himself shares some of his treasured links.
As is the way in the transcient world that is the internet one cannot rely on what is here and present today will still be there and present tomorrow. Apologies in advance if a link is presented but now no longer works. All that von Peter himself can offer up in compensation is the cold comfort statement that the link worked when it was added. Maintenance of the links will be undertaken ... however sporadically that may be.
This page is very much in an ongoing building phase.
Click the appropriate logo to discover and follow the link to the desired location.
Figure Manufacturers
A listing of favoured and / or collected figure manufacturers in alphabetic order.
von Peter's favourite manufacturer of 28mm Napoleonic figures. As at time of typing Calpe make Prussian, French & Saxon ranges all from the later end of the wars. Absolutely no one that von Peter himself is aware of comes close to covering a topic with the number of figure options that Calpe do.
Peter F. runs Calpe as a one man band from research, through range design, figure sculpting, mould mastering and making, casting, fulfilling orders and dealing with customer queries. He is a busy man.
Don't overlook the "Guides & Research" section on the Calpe website. It is a gem.
Disclosure notice: von Peter himself is a self confessed Calpe zealot!
Perry Miniatures is the commercial front end of the Perry twins - Alan & Michael - miniatures empire. The output of the twins is astounding and their products inspire deep loyalty amongst their many fans. Multiple 28mm ranges are produced in metal and hard plastic. They'll even sell you some terrain pieces. They also sell their 8mm Travel Battle self contained gaming system, 40mm Peninsular and Border Reaver ranges, and even the occasional book.
The twins also have a reasonably active Facebook page.
Front Rank Figurines 28mm ranges include medieval, late 17th century, 18th century (Seven Years War), Napoleonics. A 40mm American War of Independence range is also available. They tend to not skimp on their ranges ... though limbers and caissons for the Napoleonic nationalities other than France and Britain would be nice. Hint hint!.
What von Peter himself doesn't get from Calpe Miniatures for his Napoleonic collections normally comes from Front Rank. Sizewise the two are a good match. Front Rank Figurines also provide von Peter's SYW collections.
*** Front Rank Figurines has been sold to Gripping Beast. Whilst the Front Rank site still exists figures must be ordered via Gripping Beast. ***
Wargames Foundry have been around in one incarnation or another for a long time. During the younger years of von Peter himself they were probably the premier miniature manufacturer of historic figures ... so yes, they have been around in one incarnation or another for a long L-O-N-G time.
Over that period they amassed a mind boggling number of ranges with some of those ranges sculpted by well known and respected sculptors, eg. the Perry twins. But on the downside over the intervening years figures have creeped up in size so many of the Foundry ranges are 25mm in size whereas many competing and younger ranges are now 28mm in size. This may or may not be a problem.
They also sell the Foundry Paint System which basically provides paints as triads of three shades of a colours - from darker to lighter. von Peter himself has never purchased a Foundry paint let alone used the Foundry Paint System.
AB Figures boasts a large and slowly growing 18mm Napoleonic range, a more limited 18mm Ancients (Sassanids, Romans & Greeks) range, 15mm American Civil War and a still growing 20mm WWII range. The Napoleonics and WWI ranges are the biggies. They put many 28mm ranges to shame.
Sculpted by Anthony Barton. So where in the world did the name AB Figures came from?!
Terrain
One should never underestimate the aesthetics of the game. These links may help you out ...
Melbourne based Eureka Miniatures have a wide variety of ranges historic and otherwise figures ... and some of the otherwise is weird whacky and glorious!
GrandManner make resin terrain. Very nice resin terrain but such quality doesn't come cheap. They used to sell both painted and unpainted pieces but as of early 2018 it is just the painted article to be had. Mostly it is 28mm terrain covering many periods and geographies but there is also 20mm WWII and 40mm AWI/ACW.
Hovels make resin scenery in 28mm, 20mm, 15mm, 1/200 & 1/300 sizes and scales. Cheap and cheerful compared to GrandManner but the product is perfectly serviceable and von Peter himself is pleased to have multiple examples in his collection.
Forums and news sites
von Peter himself has a theory that separating forums and news sites gets to be a bit troublesome. So he wont bother!
Podcasts
For your easy listening pleasure while painting or walking the dog.
Miscellaneous
Places of interest on the World Wide Web that just don't fit elsewhere.
Wargamer's sites
This is the last section because it is likely to balloon out to be by far the biggest!
What it says on the tin. Like all such news sites it doesn't catch all the news. None of them do!
Tabletop Gaming News. A lot of what is reported on this site is not von Peter's style. But your tastes may differ.
The Miniatures Page - or TMP - is both a news site and a forum. Life can get a little robust at times but if it's news on historic wargames your after it's probably one of the better sites.
For von Peter himself Meeples & Miniatures is the grand daddy of wargaming podcasts. A new episode every 2 weeks or so and though they're not often talking about topics that von Peter himself holds near and dear it's usually an easy enough listen.
No longer being regularly published but there is quite a back catalogue.
GMB Designs are the official flag makers for von Peter himself.
If they don't make want you want then have a chat. Something might just get arranged.
Martin Kelly's blog which sadly has not been updated since 2014. But it is still well worth a nosey. Martin has / had close links to Calpe Towers and could / can turn out a mean painted figure.
And how could you go wrong with a title like Befreiungskriege 1813-14?
Dressing the Lines is Roly Herman's, aka Arteis's, blog. A local chap here on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand. Being a good keen computer as well as wargaming man Roly has several sites on the web on various wargaming subjects. If I can find a listing I'll see if I can add them here ... assuming that listing is not too long!
The world famous moustachioed Kiwi Welshman residing in New Zealand. Valleyboyo seemingly turns out painted figures with the mere twirl of his moustache ... and they are very fine figures that get turned out. Perhaps we should all ditch our sable brushes and get moustache bristle brushes!
Sparker's Wargames Blog. My Dearest Sparkles is an Englishman lost in Australia undoubtedly so as to atone for his many past sins! The catch line for his blog is "BATREP's of our wargaming activities - big battles 'in the Grand Manner' is our aim..." and that probably is all you need to know.
Carlo is a man of great taste as is proved by his wargaming collections.
First there was the "With Pyjamas through the Desert" blog to cover his Peter Gilder style gaming in the Sudan. Then there was the brother blog "With Pyjamas through a whiff of grapeshot" to cover all the other wargaming Carlo and his most fortunate mates play.
Musings from The Warp is the web presence of the rather talented Greater Queeg. Amongst his other projects Greater Queeg is the painter of von Peter's Napoleonic Russians though really his forte is probably vehicles.
Greater Queeg is not currently taking commissions as his family are sadly having to deal with the illness of their youngest daughter - a struggle I'm sure we all wish them all the best with. It all puts playing with toy soldiers in perspective really.
Total Battle Miniatures make a variety of resin buildings in various scales. They also make them for different types of gaming, ie. Skirmish & Big Battles, where the footprint / scaling of the buildings varies with the type of game. What a great idea. They also make Scenic Tiles which are town, village or farm bases with slots for the standardised buildings to sit in - a great idea.
The Lead Adventure Forum is a long running site which is a credit to all those involved. Many others have imploded and not lasted the distance. Much of interest to be found here from new figures to painting projects to game reports.
Olicanalad's Games illustrates how von Peter himself would like to do his gaming. Sumptuous. There's not much left to say.
The Terry of terrysgaragegaming is a local gamer who gets his handle from the large games he hosts in his garage usually entertaining hordes of hungry and thirsty gamers. A major mover in the local big game scene
Born in Britain. Grew up in Canda. Currently resides in Japan. Plays with toy soldiers. All seems like a perfectly normal progression to von Peter himself!
As well as painting and playing with toy soldiers Robert also creates some wonderful custom terrain pieces.
Ahhhhh ... ummmm ... just in case you've forgotten - von Peter himself has a blog as well as this website for a more day-to-day or month-to-month myopic view of his wargaming world.
Simon Miller's blog focussing on the ancient - as in Romans and Greeks etc not old and deprecated views! - and medieval aspects of his hobby. You will find details and pictures of his large and photogenic armies of the era, their amassing and the games played with them.
Also here you can access to BigRedBat's Shop selling Simon's To the Strongest! ancients rules, (free) army lists, bases and other gaming paraphernalia.
Simon Miller's English Civil War blog. Lots of ECW porn to see here. Also details of Simon's soon to be released For King and Parliament rules.
The crew from the Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine have their podcast hosted by The History Network.org but it is also available via iTunes.
The Lardy Oddcast is of course brought to you by the TooFatLardies chaps. It is available from Libsyn as per the link attached to the image but a little annoyingly for von Peter himself it is not currently via iTunes. This is annoying because it does not auto feed to von Peter's computer via a subscription in iTunes as all his other podcasts do! Another first world problem!
Mark Strachan's 1866 and all that blog exhibits the man's outrageous output be it painting figures or building custom terrain. It should be enough to shame von Peter himself except he is well passed measuring himself against others output - it's a loosing game!!
Some of von Peter's resin terrain was created by Mark when he was at Military Miniatures in Auckland - the precursor to Battlefront Miniatures of Flames of War fame.
The Chasseur - was Chasseur a Cheval - blog showcases Mark's outrageous painting output. Really von Peter himself is not sure where all these productive people get the time and energy from!
Anyways there is also a record of Mark's games to be viewed.
Paul Alba's blog Napoleonics in Miniature is a bit of a problem really. The man takes the already exquisite 18mm AB Figures, occasionally customises them and paints them ... well ... exquisitely! He makes some of the 28mm crowds figures look a little passe!
What are we to do?!
Carryings On Up The Dale gives von Peter himself the feeling of earlier, simpler and happier wargaming times. It's not that the games played are old fashioned or anything. It's just that an impression of genuine enthusiasm and fun radiates from it's content.
Well done that man Colin Ashton.
Aly is Aly Morrison who is one of the Nottingham mafia along with the Perry twins and others. His Aly's Toy Soldiers blog illustrates his talents as a sculptor, painter etc as well as chronicling his games and hobby related trips.
Speaking of Aly's trips ... way back in 2012 Aly accompanied the Perry twins as they paid a visit to New Zealand. Cutting a long story short the 3 honoured guests ended up playing a Napoleonic game in Garage Gaming Terry's garage. The son & heir ended up facing off against Aly and had a most enjoyable game thanks in no short measure to Aly. So if you get a chance to play a game with Mr Aly Morrison it is strongly suggested that you jump at the opportunity.
Coat d'arms Paints are apparently one of the old Citadel - ie. Games Workshop - ranges of paints but with a few modern twists. There is a fantasy range, a military range and a WWII range. There are metallics, ink washes and super washes. They can be bought singly or as Triads – think the Foundry’s base, shade and highlight matched colours – as well as in paint sets – e.g. Ancient Set or Horse Tone set – which provide 10 bottles at a discount. They also have an Army Painter equivalent with their Super Shader range and Brushscape which are textured paints. They generally come in a larger 18mm bottle for £2.30 that seal well albeit that experience has taught that one must be careful not to break the little tab off the tops else the opening process becomes somewhat more of a challenge. The Super Shaders come in a larger – 60cc? – screw top bottle for £5. They are distributed by Black Hat Miniatures out of the UK but are also available from other vendors. They are cheaper to mail order from the UK to NZ than to buy the current Citadel paints locally and don't tend to dry up so much in their bottles. And they're not in those annoying dropper bottles.
Dice of War make dice customised for some armies - currently ancient, Napoleonic, American Civil War, WWII and WWIII and I've probably missed some.
What you get are a set of 16mm six sided dice coloured in a manner suitable to the army and with the '6' is replaced with a graphic of pertinence to that army, eg. the Napoleonic Russian dice are in green and have a golden Russian double headed eagle in place of the '6'.
They also supply tins and other bits a pieces.
An extravagance to warm wargamers heart.
Renedra Limited are in the plastics business. When they're not helping Perry Miniatures and others make their plastic figure, moulds etc then they making their own "generic scenery and bases" ... out of plastic!
Phil's War Cabinet shows off some marvellous collections. There's even some images of Phils prior armies though I wish there was more!.
Quindia Studios is one of the electronic fronts for Clarence Harrison. Other fronts include collaborations with League of Augsburg Barry Hilton. Much eye candy to be seen and even some "how tos" on the scenery front to educate the great unwashed masses.
Tony Harwood's does a lot of modelling, much of it terrain orientated. You can follow some of his projects at Dampf's Modelling Page as well as other bits and pieces.
David Imrie's Saxon Dog showcases some(?) of his projects. And they are well worth showcasing!
The Wargames Website is "aiming for The Wargames Website to offer a combined news feed, forum and gaming resource".
Uniforms and the like
"and the like" because there may eventually be links on armoured vehicles and other non uniform information. Basically it's all about what colours to put where.
When designing their figures Calpe does a whole 'bunch' of research. Not only do we benefit from that research with a great range of figures but Calpe also make the fruits of that research available on their website in the Guides & Research section.
Note that this section deals with the "current" figures. Similar information for the "Calpe Veterans" ranges are included in the relevant range page. All the information for the Prussians is currently held in the Calpe Veterans pages.
There is so much useful information here on the Russian Facings of the Napoleonic Era and more besides. If von Peter himself had this information all those years ago his Napoleonic Russians would have been painted slightly differently. D'oh!
Associations, Societies and suchlike bodies of interest
If you have an interest in their period then they might just have a deal for you. And what's really nice they all provide a handy introductory snippet for piratical types to "borrow". Presented in chronological order.
Burkhard's dhc wargames blog is another one of those blogs which needs to wake from a too long slumber. But still well worth a visit for the historic posts that are still there to be seen.
Plastic figures mostly of the 28mm Ancient and 28mm & 54mm Napoleonic variety are the main reasons to visit Victrix. The son & heir has some of their Republican Romans and Carthaginians and they are very nice figures. von Peter himself would worry about the longevity of the plastic pikes, spears and other long spindly bits however and would look at replacing them with brass equivalents. This which would be a shame as the plastic ones are produced with lovely details which would be missing from their replacements. Of course talk is cheap when one is not faced with the actual task of chopping out potentially hundreds of pikes etc from hands and replacing them with a more durable equivalent!
von Peter himself gets his plywood bases from Litko Game Accessories. It is possible to get cheaper mdf bases from a plethora of manufacturers but von Peter himself prefers the idea of the plywood. After all there are fervent hopes that the figures will remain based for a long LONG time.
There is a lot more in the basing stakes than just plywood from Litko. And there's much more than just basing as well. Have a visit and poke around a bit.
Vatican Enterprises supply the wonderful Hudson & Allen Studio models. If only there were more of them to supply! Sigh.
The logo doesn't give much away but Kronskaf is a treasure trove of information on the Seven Years War and the armies - and their uniforms - that fought in it.
The History Book Man produces an ever expanding series of E-books on Napoleonic armies. they contain details on organisation, uniforms and even some history. In the eyes of von Peter himself they are wonderful value for money.
*** This website is currently returning a "Page cannot be found!" message. The reason for this is the unwelcome news that the author and proprietor WJ (Bill) Rawkins has sadly passed away. Perhaps the website will be resurrected - we can but hope. For now this defunct link will stay as a memorial to Bill.
Peter Bunde's Brigade Uniform Plates provide a coloured plate showing various aspects of the subject regiments uniform for various ranks, parade vs. campaign wear and for different time periods if necessary. A one page description is also provided.
Jimbibblyblog is an interesting name but there's more! This is where James shows his "hobby and OSHIRO items". OSHIRO modelterrain sells various terrain items and some figures but what has really caught the eye of von Peter himself is the custom terrain that James creates. With any luck he will continue to show it off here. There are even work in progress reports.
Der Alte Fritz crams his Journal with horse and musket goodness. Much of it on a grand scale. Well worth a perusal.
The Miller's Tale podcast is brought to us by the voice of Mike Whitaker. Mike also has his Trouble At T'Mill - a wargaming blog blog.
The Society of Ancients is a long-established international amateur society for the promotion of the study of ancient and medieval military history and wargaming the period 3000 BC to 1500 AD. It is run by volunteers for the benefit of its worldwide membership.
The Society publishes a bi-monthly journal, Slingshot, containing a wide range of items related to Ancient and Medieval military history and wargaming contributed by Society members. It organises various events, including an annual games day and members' conference, and runs a wargames championship. The Society also publishes a number of games and booklets which are available from our web store.
Promoting research and public interest in the Early Modern period of warfare, 1400 - 1721.
Founded in 1973, the Pike and Shot Society is an international organization that promotes interest in the warfare of the Early Modern Period, a time that saw radical change in the way in which wars were fought world-wide. Its main activity is the publication of its highly respected bi-monthly journal Arquebusier as well as specialist books, monographs and booklets.
The Seven Years’ War Association is an organization dedicated to the study and preservation of the history of the Seven Years’ War and other conflicts in the middle third of the eighteenth century. The Association publishes the Journal of the Seven Years War Association in order to disseminate knowledge of the period.
Since its formation in 1975, the Napoleonic Association has acted as an umbrella organisation that supports people with a common interest in the Napoleonic period, spanning the French Revolution to the decisive action at the Battle of Waterloo (1793-1815).
Made up of Re-enactors, Researchers and Wargamers, our membership meet regularly to bring to life the social and military activities of this ‘Age of Elegance’, at events across the UK and overseas.
Marauder Moments showcases the usually large Napoleonic table top battles, the armies used to fight them and the terrain fought over by Jeremy and his happy band of Mortimer Street Marauders. All presented with a degree of self deprecation and humour.
Henry Hyde has been around wargaming in one form or another for quite a while. He is often to be heard appearing as a guest on other podcasts and now he has a podcast of his own.
"I create regular podcasts, mostly in the form of interviews with wargaming personalities and businesses. These are normally released exclusively to my Patreon patrons for the first couple of days, before being made available to everyone."
"Welcome to L 'Hotel de Hercé your French home away from home in Mayenne 53 C.1720 maison of Baron de Hercé. Exclusive B&B - Chambre d'hôte, located on the gateway to Loire Valley, Normandy, & Brittany."
What the above pirated blurb doesn't mention is that the proprietors of the establishment are Australian, one of them is a wargamer, that various guided tours including historically focussed examples are available OR that wargames holiday type offerings are up for grabs.
L'Hotel de Herce may get the shock of it's life in 2020. No more shall be said on this yet but perhaps von Peter himself will find himself in a position to give a review of the good hotel and the offerings.
A seemingly useful resource for tracking TooFatLardies media releases such as podcasts & videos and product releases (I think!) ... and miscellaneous news of the Lard.
Goat Major's blog. Yet another of those stupidly talented gamers. Observe and weep.
For those with an interest in WWII a couple of patriotic Brits - Comedian Al Murray and historian James Holland - host a podcast on that conflict. Search for “We Have Ways of Making You Talk” on your favourite podcast provider.
You could perhaps discuss what constitutes an obscure battle but what is not up for debate with Jeff Berry's Obscure Battles site is the intersting analysis he performs on the covered battles. And Jeff is a wargamer so each of the battles comes with wargaming options or considerations.
Another gamer's site with the aesthetics to make von Peter himself swoon. The situation maps littering the battle reports are wonderful. Someone has too much spare time!
And to top it all off this site comes out of New Zealand.
1898 Miniatures, or more accurately 1898 Miniaturas as they are out of Spain, produce several ranges but what brought them to the attention of von Peter himself was their Spanish Tercios 28mm Miniatures range. Indeed so much of von Peter's attention did they gain that a bunch of them have been purchased. What more by the way of an endorsement could be offered?
John Boadle's miniature architecture as seen in early issues of Wargames Illustrated magazine made quite the impact on a younger von Peter himself. Hand-Built History is the vehicle for John to show off his many projects over the years and eventually open the lid a little on some of the techniques used in their creation.
Just Add Water is yet another one of those sites from yet another annoyingly talented hobbyist! Simply inspirational. For example check the Byzantines (filed under several variations of Byzantines and Belisarius and who knows what else 😃).
If you're interested in European warfare in the 17th Century and recreating the same as a wargame then you really should check out The Via Regia. Some great units on display and some excellent links.
Nations In Arms is Steve Shann's blog recounting his wargaming adventures and future plans. Steve is a figure painter for others as well as his own forces, i.e. he has most presentable pictures that are well worth a looksie. He also self publishes his own books. To date there have been ...
Let’s Fight Leipzig! Wargaming The Battle Of The Nations (Napoleonic 1813 action which von Peter himself very contentedly owns)
The Seelow Heights": A Wargamers Guide (late WWII Eastern Front action)
Studies From The Franco-Prussian War: 1. The Mitrailleuse
Rules
Collecting mighty armies of figures and stunning world creating terrain is all very fine but it is the wargaming rules that puts it all in motion.
David Brown has created the General de Brigade family of rules including the popular Napoleonic pairing of General de Brigade and General d'Armee; Guns at Gettysburg and Pickett's Charge for the ACW; and BattleGroup PanzerGrenadier for WWII. Additionally other authors have picked up his rules mechanisms to create rules for other periods.
Piquet Inc. provides rules, supplements and scenarios across many periods. The card driven mechanisms are a bit out of the ordinary and not for those who like full control in their gaming but they have provided von Peter himself with many a happy gaming experience. As a bonus the rules can work well for solo or asymmetrical gaming situations.
TooFatLardies produce a variety of rules, supplements / scenario booklets for those rules and game aids for those same rules. Sharp Practice is one of those rules. As well as their own rules they also run Rewisswitz Press that publishes rules by other authors.
There's a blog and a forum on their site as well as a Yahoo Forum.
But there's more! The TwoFatLardies Oddcast (Podcast) can be found here or alternatively on the TooFatLardies YouTube channel.
The YouTube channel above also houses "how to play" videos on various Lardies rules.
Video channels / YouTubes
Whereas the previous section of Podcasts links provided easy listening whilst doing almost anything the links provided here are a little more demanding as they require the attention of your eyes as well as your ears.
Warning: many hours of of your life can be wasted away in the following links! ☠️
Wargames, views and reviews in various periods from an Australian veteran.
J P and often his son Charlie and sometimes with groups of others play games or review their hobby activities.
The toofatlardies have a tv channel. They play games, provide rule tutorials on their rules, host advent calendars, build terrain and no doubt more besides.
Book selling establishments
Who doesn't like a good history or wargaming book to pore over? Presented below are a selection of von Peter's favoured book sellers supplying reading material with a military and/or wargaming hobby focus.
Caliver Books supply military books and wargames books and second hand military & wargames books and magazines and board games and paints and scenery and I suspect the list goes on.
Helion & Company publish on a wide range of military history topics - some of them quite exotic. They also produce a range of wargames rules and scenario books. Many of their books are also available as eBooks.
They are quite prolific publishers and often have special offers. For both of these reasons it is worth subscribing to their newsletter.
Many many naval & military books available here. There are end of lines or other specials/deals to be had on occasions. They too have a newsletter available to subscribe to for the latest information.